Edward Elgar - The Kingdom (Mark Elder)

Information

Composer: Edward Elgar

• The Kingdom, Op. 51

Claire Rutter; Susan Bickley

John Hudson; Iain Paterson

Hallé Choir & Orchestra

Mark Elder, conductor

Date: 2010

Label: Hallé Concerts Society

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Review

Sir Mark Elder’s stirring account of the magnificent “Prelude” from The Kingdom (which shared a CD with Thomas Zehetmair’s Gramophone Award-winning version of the Violin Concerto, 8/10) duly whetted the appetite for this welcome set – and I can confirm straight away that Elder’s performance of the complete oratorio evinces a comparable glow, passion and dedication. Not only does he draw orchestral playing and choral singing of notable adroitness from his massed Hallé forces (the violins perhaps lacking something in sheer opulence), his unerring grasp of the bigger scheme and scrupulous attention to dynamic and textual nuance make for profoundly nourishing results. How astutely, too, Elder taps into the vein of wistful introspection so prevalent here and in the Second Symphony and Violin Concerto to come. Like Sir Adrian Boult before him (who famously declared a preference for The Kingdom even over Gerontius), Elder clearly believes in every note of this noble edifice and his unforced, coherent conception has a thrilling ring of conviction about it.

The soloists comprise a strong team. Iain Paterson is a commandingly articulate St Peter, the ever-versatile Susan Bickley a shiningly powerful Mary Magdalene, and Claire Rutter brings considerable technical acumen and strength of feeling to the Virgin Mary’s towering soliloquy “The sun goeth down” at the end of Part 4 – although she by no means obliterates memories of Margaret Price’s sublime contribution on Boult’s pioneering and, it must be conceded, illimitably compassionate December 1968 EMI recording (5/88R). Only the slightly pinched timbre of tenor John Hudson (as St John) will not be to all tastes, yet he sings with devotional fervour none the less. As on Elder’s Götterdämmerung (7/10), producer/engineer Steve Portnoi can be proud of the spectacular range, opulence and realism of his efforts.

Now, can we please have The Apostles from Elder and his stylish Hallé cohorts?

-- Andrew Achenbach, Gramophone

More reviews:
MusicWeb International  RECORDING OF THE MONTH

https://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Jan11/Elgar_Kingdom_CDHLD7526.htm

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/a/asv07526a.php

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/sep/30/elgar-the-kingdom-classical-review

https://www.allmusic.com/album/elgar-the-kingdom-mw0002093275

https://www.amazon.com/Elgar-Kingdom/dp/B00454TWYM

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Edward Elgar (2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos for violin and cello, and two symphonies. He also composed choral works, including The Dream of Gerontius, chamber music and songs. Elgar has been described as the first composer to take the gramophone seriously. Between 1914 and 1925, he conducted a series of acoustic recordings of his own works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elgar

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Mark Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He studied music at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and later became a protégé of Edward Downes in Australia. From 1979 to 1993, Elder was the music director of English National Opera and and gave the ENO several very successful years of productions. He was appointed music director of the Hallé Orchestra in 1999, and is generally regarded as having restored the orchestra to high musical standards. Elder has recorded for the Hyperion, NMC, Chandos, Opera Rara, and Glyndebourne record labels, as well as for the Hallé Orchestra's own label.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Elder

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